Long wait time to see dealer?

[ignorethefringes]

Admittedly I'm mostly just venting after a frustrating morning.

I have to take the truck in to get serviced (2018 F150) due to some warnings popping up. I was spoiled back in FL and had a dealer just down the road that I could drop the truck at and get a call back with a diagnosis within a day or so. I expected it would be longer here in East TN, but the when calling the closest dealerships, the 1st wasn't taking any new service clients (I didn't even know they could do that, lol), the 2nd was booked out through November sometime, the 3rd had their earliest appointment in 10 days but they don't offer loaners/rentals while the truck is being serviced (the truck is my wife's daily driver), and the 4th, which I booked with, has an appointment available Friday morning and they have "limited" loaner vehicles and they are 30 miles away. Originally I was a little worried about driving it that far, but after reading some online about the warnings I'm getting I think it'll be ok.

Considering this truck is still under warranty I didn't expect to have this much of a hassle getting a dealership to take a look. Is this all due to staff shortages related to Covid? What are y'all seeing around your neck of the woods?

 

[cedahm]

Considering this truck is still under warranty I didn't expect to have this much of a hassle getting a dealership to take a look. Is this all due to staff shortages related to Covid? What are y'all seeing around your neck of the woods?

I havent had trouble getting in @ my local Nissan dealer. They were a week or so out on simple services but I've had a handful of minor issues (sticky tailgate, loose interior piece, etc) and have been able to get in quick.

Except loaner vehicles. They basically are a showroom now as actual inventory is still low on pickups and SUV's - when I was there the other week for a minor warranty fix there was exactly 1 Titan on the lot and 2-3 Armadas.

Mine will get you an Uber or Lyft back to work/home and another to get you back to them, but I realize that wouldn't help as much if you're 30 miles away and need to go elsewhere.

 

[noharleyyet]

Is this all due to staff shortages related to Covid? What are y'all seeing around your neck of the woods?

Chips aj...no inventory is killing the bottom line. And yes, personnel shortages, illness related and cutting back combo.

 

[ignorethefringes]

Is this all due to staff shortages related to Covid? What are y'all seeing around your neck of the woods?

Chips aj...no inventory is killing the bottom line. And yes, personnel shortages, illness related and cutting back combo.

I keep forgetting about the chip shortages too. Ugh.

 

[Dave N]

I've been told the same thing before. If they weren't the ones that sold me the vehicle they didn't want to do any warranty or recall work. Seems kind of pissy since they would get reimbursed by the company for the work done. And yeah, loaners have gone away just like the cars on the lot.

 

[mdhunter]

I called and they wanted me to make an appointment three weeks out for an oil change. Needless to say I went in a different direction.

 

[ignorethefringes]

I've been told the same thing before. If they weren't the ones that sold me the vehicle they didn't want to do any warranty or recall work. Seems kind of pissy since they would get reimbursed by the company for the work done. And yeah, loaners have gone away just like the cars on the lot.

Our plan was to take it back to the seller when we're in FL for Thanksgiving. But I'm supposed to take this truck to MT in Oct/Nov so it has to be in top shape before then. I hate feeling like my hand if forced.

 

[oldillini]

I recently had my 2016 Tundra fully serviced. New front brakes (only 127K), all drive train serviced and tune-up. It was a 4 week wait to get in. Knew I needed to do this before CO trip in October and when my wife waited 2 weeks to get her Camry in, I figured I best do it early. Service manager said that with fewer new vehicles to sale, they have seen major increase in older vehicles (3+ years) coming in for service. Also, there seems to be a shortages of trained service techs.

 

[Dakota79]

I guess I'm pretty spoiled living in a small rural community. I talked to a local mechanic Wednesday at a volleyball game and he came Thursday morning and got my van. It needed a new starter and some bearings packed. Delivered back to my house Saturday morning ready to roll and the inside was vacuumed and dusted with the windows cleaned.

 

[ignorethefringes]

I guess I'm pretty spoiled living in a small rural community. I talked to a local mechanic Wednesday at a volleyball game and he came Thursday morning and got my van. It needed a new starter and some bearings packed. Delivered back to my house Saturday morning ready to roll and the inside was vacuumed and dusted with the windows cleaned.

The fortunate/unfortunate thing for me, kind of, is that it's still under warranty. But to get covered by warranty it has to be done at the dealer. So local mechanics aren't even an option for now.

 

[elkhnter]

Friendly Ford in Vegas told me I’d have to wait 10-14 days before they could look at, not fix, my F250. Amazingly they said they could get right on it when I went back in to get it.

 

[grizzly_]

I keep forgetting about the chip shortages too. Ugh.

That's because all the microchip factories are getting paid more to make them for the vaccines

 

[hank4elk]

I will not go to a dealer for anything if I can help it. I don't need to get ripped off or need drugs....

 

[Chingon]

Staff shortages, but also lack of new inventory means that people are having to hold onto their older vehicles (which require more service) in the meantime...

Almost as bad as RV dealer service.

 

[pre6422hornet]

Hey guys. I have been in automotive for over 30 years with the last 20 years on the manufacture side ( Volvo, Harley Davidson,Nissan,Audi). Here in Chicago for the last 8 years my district has never seen more than 4 days wait as an average to "book" an appointment ( Audi).

Since January of this year wait times has exploded. I am currently sitting at 11 days wait for an average. There are several factors that are compounding the situation:
1. Lack of technicians. I could easily place 20-30 technicians today throughout the district if any of them came up to me and said they needed a place to work and Chicago is one of the largest Audi markets in the country.
2. Micro chips. Yep it is an issue. Less new car inventory = less loaner cars = less appointments a day. ( for the manufacturers that offer them).
3. Port hold ups due to lack of workers. As of this morning there were 51 container ships waiting off the coast of LA to unload. Unfortunately that means any parts on those ships are just sitting there floating waiting to get unloaded.
4. Due to port hold ups, any car that is tore apart on the lift waiting for parts, that cannot be pushed outside is now tying up a lift.
5. With less inventory and less new car sales happening ( down 60-80% year over year) we are seeing more people keeping their vehicles and as a result work orders in service are up 20-40% Year over year ( comparing to the last normal year 2019)
6. Lack of support staff. Porters, shuttle drivers, detail, admin, parts runners, etc.. are all in extreme shortages. When you take that layer of support away, repair times suffer as well.

It is a struggle for sure. No one wants to be told they have to wait to get in, believe me. Wish I could give some sort of the " end is near" but unfortunately it doesn't look like it.

 

[michsteelguy]

I too have a 2018 F150 that is currently being serviced. I took it to a dealer that did not sell me the truck (originally) for warranty work and was informed that I had to make an appointment that was 10 days out..... not a problem. With 4 different TSB issues (technical service bulletin- not recalls) to be addressed i figured it would take some time. Its almost been 2 weeks and I'm hoping its not 2 before I get it back. I was wondering the same thing as you..... employee shortage, parts delays, new customer, all of the above - who knows. I just hope its not another 2 weeks! Lucky for me I work at home. Good luck and hope it all works out for you.

 

[454]

I called everyone that would answer in Bozeman last week and nobody could do an oil change. Finally did it myself which I don't enjoy.

 

[F250]

Can't keep paying people to stay at home and not work.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

2+ months to get into my local dealership for an electrical issue. That's just for them to look at it, not to actually order the parts I need.
Thank goodness it wasn't something urgent.

 

[ignorethefringes]

Update on my end, it was in the shop for about 3 days and we ended up with replaced front hubs on both sides and a replaced rear backup camera. All under warranty.

I ended up taking it to the dealer that was 30 miles away and the appointment was +/- 1 week out from when I first called so it wasn't terrible. The story of dealing with the local enterprise for the rental was kind of a nightmare, but oh well. There was basically no communication from the shop until it was done but we were happy to get it back so quick.